"Invest in education from day one" with Evelyn Rountree

Photo Credit: Evelyn Rountree

As a stay-at-home mom, Evelyn Rountree had everything she ever wished for… and yet, she couldn’t help but feeling like something was missing from her life. She turned those emotions into action and started her own business, a website named "Love, mamãe". She wants to help and uplift other moms who, like herself, want to navigate their feelings without judgment, and survive the toddler years with joy, grace, and sanity!

Can you tell our readers about your background?

Absolutely! My name is Evelyn and I am a mom of two toddlers, a wife, a homemaker, and a business owner. I was born and raised in Brazil and met my husband on a social media platform back in 2011. After 4 years of a long-distance relationship, we married in 2015, when I then moved to the States to start our journey. We live in the Atlanta area with our kids.

What inspired you to start your business?

I have been a stay-at-home mom since the birth of my daughter in 2018. She’s almost three now and, while I absolutely love being home with her and her 1-year-old brother, during the last year I couldn’t help but feel like I was missing something.

As a SAHM, we wear a lot of hats already. Adding one more wasn’t something I thought I could do… until I did it. I started my webpage to speak to other mothers, like myself, who sometimes get trapped into the outside voices telling us that we should always be so happy with motherhood, but reality isn’t like that. I want to help them survive the toddler years with joy, grace, and sanity!

Where is your business based?

I work from home on my website, except for content creation of specific posts recommending a place or doing reviews.

How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?

Research, research, research. I don’t know how anyone can start a business not knowing what they are getting themselves into.

The first step I took was to take free classes, just to start getting acquainted with what I was looking for. After those, I paid for a few classes that were the best reviewed for my niche. I tried to learn as much as possible to prevent myself from drowning on information once the website went live. I then prepared my page to look exactly like I wanted. I wrote a lot of content for launch day. I wanted to hit the ground running so I prepared for it the best I could

What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?

I think that when you have a goal to help others, combined with knowledge and passion, your audience eventually finds you. The most effective way I’ve found to put my content in front of readers is to continuously follow a rigorous schedule of posts along with social media, as well as following up with existing ways to get my name out there.

Connecting and engaging organically with other successful bloggers has been a huge help for me – and also a big surprise. I was expecting more of a competitive environment, but all I have found so far were welcoming, warm-hearted bloggers who are happy to help. That also helps with putting my page out there.

I advertise on Social Media and Pinterest the most. 

What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?

I think my biggest challenge so far has been juggling all of my hats – there just aren’t enough hours in the day, some days. Another big one is growing social media along with the blog – while the two are completely separate platforms and there are amazing huge blogs that do not have a social media presence, my goal has always been to do both. But again… there’s only so much a mom can do in a day, so I’m taking it step-by-step.

Another big challenge was fining a good schedule that worked well for my work, my kids, my husband and my home chores. It took a while to get the hang of it, but I think I’m on a good roll now after some trials and errors.

How do you stay focused?

I could not survive without a routine and a schedule. As far as work goes, my weeks are usually carefully planned on the first day of the month and I try my best to follow that guideline as the days go by. I also am very intentional about “leaving room for failure days”, which are days I know will come along when I won’t be able to accomplish much. And that’s ok. Giving myself grace gives me room to do my tasks, stay focused and not get so stressed out.

How do you differentiate your business from the competition?

With my business specifically, which is a blog, it can be overwhelming to think about competition. There are just so many blogs currently in existence and being created every day that if I think too much about it, I lose stimulus. I focus on my own goal: help mothers, engage with them, and navigate through motherhood with them. I’m very passionate about the subjects I post about, and my audience can feel that passion. So even though there are a million of mom blogs out there, none of them can speak from my own perspective, and the same for them. I think doing the best you can, educating yourself to always reinvent and offer quality content pays off when it comes to standing out. 

What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?

Right now, I’m very focused on SEO (Search Engine Optimization), because I know that’s the number 1 thing to grow my blog long-term. It’s also a patience game, I know it won’t happen overnight, and I’m prepared to wait.

Even though I consider myself to be in the early stages of blogging, I’m putting content and treating my business as an established one, because to me it’s as serious now as it will be in a year.

Now that I’ve gotten the hang of SEO for the most part, I am focusing in growing my social media presence to engage with even more mothers that could benefit from my content.

What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?

Invest in education from day one. Knowing what to do, when and how to do it will save you so much headache and feeling lost in the first few weeks. It’s so overwhelming taking on such an important step such as starting a business, so taking classes, listening to podcasts or studying other businesses in your niche might just help you tremendously!

What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?

My favorite app right now is Planoly! It just makes my life soooo much easier with planning and scheduling my content, which helps me stay organized and spend less time staring at the screen every day deciding what to post. I take an hour or two every week and plan my content for the whole week, then I don’t need to worry about it again. It’s amazing!

As far as a favorite blog, my go-to right now is the Kids Eat in Color page. It’s a one of a kind, amazing resource for kids’ nutrition, which is something I’m not fully educated in. I get very inspired!

My favorite book for a year now has been “The Miracle Morning” by Hal Elrod. I’ve read it entirely more than 10 times and every time I gain a new perspective. Especially now in the journey of growing a business, it’s extremely inspiring.

What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?

Studying other established blogs in my niche and seeing what worked for them is my way of learning, other than the classes I take. I don’t call them competition because, as I said, I think there’s a unique way that we can engage with an audience and there’s a lot of room to grow for most bloggers in any niche. So studying what they are doing and applying my own personal twist has been working great for me. 

Who is your business role model? Why?

I have two: my former boss, Charlie Emby (CEO and co-founder of Just Play Products) is my overall aspiration. I love the way he conducts business, more specifically in how he deals and treats employees. It was my last job before pivoting to a stay-at-home-mom-life and I left that place with a heavy heart, I was heartbroken! I aspire to be just like him when my own business grows and I get to hire someone.

The second one, is my former “supervisor” and now one my greatest friends, Gail Morrill. She was the one that hired me, taught me and “raised” me at Just Play, and I learned so much from her – business and life equally! She showed me that being a supervisor can be so much more than barking orders, and when you actually care about the people working for you, they get more inspired to do their jobs right. 

How do you balance work and life?

I need to have an organized schedule, otherwise I can easily just work all day. I always try to remember that my kids come first, that being their mom takes priority, and everything else should be additions to my life – and not take over it. So, I set time slots when I can dedicate myself to work, take in consideration nap time and add in any plans to do outside of the home.

What’s your favorite way to decompress?

After the kids go to bed, I have an hour to work, and then my favorite thing to do is take a shower or bath in the dark. I hang my iPad and watch Friends or an “easy” movie, and just enjoy the peace. I always come out renewed!

What do you have planned for the next six months?

Oh, so much! From blog collaborations to an amazing Gift Guide, I have to say what I’m most looking forward to is a feature post with a guest I’m a super fan of. She will be writing for my segment “From Moms To Moms” and I can hardly wait until November! I think it will be a beautiful piece and so helpful to all moms out there – myself included!

How can our readers connect with you?

Read up the blog posts at www.lovemamae.com, and follow along my journey at www.instagram.com/lovemamaeofficial! Let’s do momming together, so don’t forget to shoot me a message and introduce yourself! 😊